‘Red’ Tutor, Red Raiders conquer the rest for title

The meet goes down to the final event and Kahuku defeats Kamehameha by two

Some expected Redmond Tutor to break down during the Island Movers/HHSAA track and field championships last night at Kamehameha, since he was trying to win five events without a day between trials and finals.

But Tutor didn't fall apart until a few moments after the 4x400 relay ended the meet and Tutor learned he and his Kahuku Red Raiders had just won the school's first state title in the sport.

"This is for you, Uncle John," Tutor said through tears. "If it wasn't for him, I don't think we'd be here."

John Cummings is the man who got Tutor, and many of his Kahuku teammates, interested in and dedicated to track. The founder and president of Ko'olauloa Track Club, the first of its kind on the North Shore, died Feb. 5 of a heart attack at age 48.

"I love track because of Uncle John," said Tutor, who won two events and was second in two others last night. "I wish he was still with us, but this is his legacy."

Cummings' son, Kahuku junior Jon, ran the first leg of the Kahuku 4x400 last night. The Red Raiders, with Gary Nagy, Suaesi Tuimaunei and Tutor completing the relay, finished third as Kamehameha won the event, but Kahuku had enough of a lead in points -- barely. Kahuku won with 64 points and Kamehameha was second with 62. Punahou finished third with 54.

"Before we ran, Red told me do it for my dad," Cummings said. "I felt like he was with me. It's good. We made history."

Tutor got Kahuku out to a good start with wins in the long jump with a wind-aided leap of 23 feet, 6 inches and the 110 hurdles in 15.12 seconds.

Tutor's wind-aided long jump was better than the 23-4 1/4 by Leilehua's Koldene Walsh in 1983, but did not beat the wind-aided mark of 24-6 1/2 by Bryan Clay of Castle in 1998.

Kamehameha took three consecutive first places in the middle of the meet. The Warriors got 10 points each for Jeremy Kamaka'ala taking the 1,500 meters, the 4x100-meter relay win, and Kinohi Warrington's victory in the 400 meters.

Kahuku lost ground when it failed to score points in the 4x100 with a shaky 1-2 pass.

"I thought we were out of it for a few minutes," Kahuku coach Sean Makaiau said.

Tutor came into the finals with the possibility of four individual firsts, but he finished second in the triple jump to Kealoha Pilares (46-2 1/4) from Damien and second in the 300 hurdles to D'Andre Benjamin (40.63) of Mililani.

"My steps got thrown off pretty bad when I hit a hurdle on the back turn," Tutor said. "I hit a hurdle hard."

Any chance of catching Benjamin was lost when Tutor clipped the second-to-last hurdle.

But Tutor also credited the athletes who placed ahead of him.

"There's so many excuses for coming in second, but these guys who beat me brought their 'A' game," he said. "They beat me. So all the props and support to them."

Punahou's Peter Deptula successfully defended his 800-meter championship, running a smart tactical race to catch four runners ahead of him on the second lap. His time was 1:56.38.

"I had a tough race in the 1,500 (second to Kamaka'ala), and that took a little out of me," Deptula said. "I took it easy the first 200 and did the work on the last lap."

After 13 events, Kahuku still held the lead with 52 points, with Punahou right behind with 50 and Kamehameha with 38.

"We knew Kahuku would have the early lead, and we missed out on some opportunities to score some points," Kamehameha coach Sam Moku said. "We had a lot of seventh places."

But the Warriors still had two aces in the hole: Kamaka'ala in the 3,000 meters and their 4x400 relay team.

Kamaka'ala successfully defended his 3,000-meter title by running 9:25.68, but Tuimaunei had helped the Red Raiders keep a margin with a 23.23 for third place in the 200.

Tuimaunei also picked up four points with a fourth place in the 100 and Arthur Bridenstine got six with a third in the 110 hurdles.

"Suaesi came up huge, Arthur came up huge and Redmond was Red," Makaiau said.

A.J. Clark of Mililani joined Tutor and Kamaka'ala as double winners of individual events. Clark took the 100 and 200 in 11.23 and 22.53.